Appreciation
by yogini
Summary: Arthur's had a bad day at work and Merlin makes it all better. "My hero" Merlin murmured, peppering Arthur's face with light kisses. "Why don't we take this upstairs so that I can properly show my appreciation?" he suggested. "Merlin, believe me when I say that I'd love to but I'm bloody exhausted." "You won't have to do anything" Merlin promised.


Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

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 **Appreciation**

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"Rough day?" Merlin asked, barely looking up from behind his laptop and Arthur grimaced. If Merlin could tell with one glance from his place all the way across the living room then he really must look as bad as he felt.  
"Yeah" he sighed as he leaned against the doorjamb, absentmindedly toying with the zipper of his coat. "Well, yes and no. Some shoplifters, an uninsured vehicle, a couple of drunk drivers and some football fans fighting in a bar."

"The usual then?" Merlin asked, putting the laptop aside and getting up from the sofa.

"Pretty much" Arthur shrugged.  
"But?" Merlin prompted gently when Arthur didn't continue. "That doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

"No, it was, uh…" Arthur started but then interrupted himself. "It's silly really." He tried to brush it away. "Nothing important."

"Obviously it was important enough to affect you" Merlin said as he moved in close, loping his arms around his boyfriend. "Go on then, tell me." Arthur pulled him closer, burying his face against Merlin's neck and just breathed in the scent of clean cotton, the soap Merlin preferred and just a hint of vanilla and cinnamon.

"Did you bake today?" he asked and he could feel Merlin's lips turn into a smile.

"Don't change the subject" he chided gently. "But yes, I did. Now tell me what happened." Arthur sighed deeply.

"Need a shower first" he murmured against Merlin's skin, feeling uncomfortable as his clothes clung to his skin, grimy and still wet with old, cold sweat. He'd rushed out of work as soon as his shift ended, too desperate to get home to even change out of his uniform. All he wanted now was long, hot shower and something decent to eat, something that didn't swim in grease, came out of a takeaway carton or was a bloody donut. He got enough of those for a lifetime when patrolling with Gwaine.

"Mum came over earlier with some homemade meatloaf" Merlin said as if he could read his mind, and Arthur once again felt as if he'd made the ultimate catch, both when arresting Merlin and when he'd managed to persuade the other man to go on a date with him. He didn't even know what he'd done to deserve to be this lucky.

"That sounds absolutely amazing." He let go of Merlin, shrugged of his coat and threw it over the back of a chair, then bent down to unlace his boots and winced when he realized he must've pulled a muscle.

"Are you hurt?" Merlin sounded worried, hands fluttering over his sides and legs to find the injury.

"Just a sore muscle" he grunted in response, kicking the boots aside. It hurt like a bitch but it was nothing that a good night's sleep wouldn't cure.

"Go get a shower, I'll fix you something to eat" Merlin said, giving him a light shove in the direction of the bathroom.

::

When Arthur padded out of the bathroom a little while later he felt like a new man, albeit a very hungry one. He followed his nose back to the living room where Merlin waited on the sofa, with a steaming plate heaped with meatloaf, mashed potatoes and entirely too many haricots verts for Arthur's taste.

"Really, Merlin?" he muttered, but there was no heat behind his words and he took the plate and started eating without waiting for a response. These days, his protests about vegetables were mostly for show and they both knew it. Hell, every man and his dog probably knew but if Gwaine ever again dared to utter the word "whipped" he'd soon realize that Arthur wasn't above fighting dirty. The pictures of Gwaine and the busty secretary making out at the Christmas party could very easily make their way onto the office notice board.

"Eat your vegetables like a good boy and there might even be dessert for you" Merlin smirked, carefully guarding a small bowl with what looked to be peach crumble pie with custard. Arthur practically inhaled the green beans at the sight.

With a stomach full of food and pie, comfortably stretched out on the couch with his head resting on Merlin's lap, Arthur started to feel sleepy. Merlin's fingers carded through his hair almost hypnotically, the TV murmured on a low volume in the background and he was warm and relaxed.

"So what happened today?" Merlin asked, clearly not above taking unfair advantage of Arthur's weakened state. He had zero resistance when Merlin played with his hair like that, especially when he was tired, and Merlin shamelessly used that knowledge.

"Couple of kids robbed an old lady of her purse" he answered, thinking back on the incident. "She'd just withdrawn a larger sum of money at the bank, a down payment on a car for her granddaughter. They followed her from the bank, tried to rip the purse from her and when she wouldn't let go they kicked her so she fell to the ground. She landed badly." Arthur swallowed, remembering the woman's pale face and pained whimpers, despite the morphine she'd been given and the paramedics' ever so gentle treatment. She'd need extensive surgery and months and months of rehabilitation to be able to walk again. Merlin shifted against him, the grip of his fingers tightening enough to pull on Arthur's hair.

"Did you catch them?" he asked, his voice hardening. "Sorry!" he quickly added as he saw Arthur's grimace of discomfort, relaxing his fingers again.

"Members of the public caught two of them right at the scene" Arthur answered. "Pushed the up against a wall, kept them from leaving. The last one punched his way out, tried to do a runner."

"What happened?"

"Little fucker tried to outrun _me_ " Arthur sneered, well remembering the satisfying thud when the both of them hit the ground. Arthur had made sure that he was the one who landed on top, just to make sure that he didn't get away. It didn't bother him too much that the kid probably walked away from the encounter with a couple of bruises, especially not considering how much pain his actions had brought upon the elderly lady. "Even shouted at me, called me a fat, old copper."

"Bet you showed him, huh?"

"I didn't think I'd get him at first" Arthur admitted. "He was fast and I've got more than ten years on him, and lots of equipment to carry." Arthur paused, feeling a little silly as his chest puffed out with pride. "But I still got him. And there's CCTV of the whole assault and witnesses. They're going down, all three of them."

"My hero" Merlin murmured, peppering his face with light kisses. "Why don't we take this upstairs so that I can properly show my appreciation?" His hands started make their way down Arthur's body but when he started toying with the hem of the pants Arthur stopped him.

"Merlin, believe me when I say that I'd love to but I'm bloody exhausted."

"You won't have to do anything" Merlin promised, hands once again teasing, and Arthur allowed himself to be led upstairs and into the bedroom where he was gently eased down on his back.

"Now, officer, just lay back and allow this humble citizen to show some proper appreciation for all of your hard work" Merlin purred and Arthur took a good grip on the bedsheets and held on for dear life. If this was the reward, Arthur could run after criminals day in and day out.


End file.
